So What's The Deal With Stalker Tim?
Date: 2025-03-07 | Topic: DC Comics | Characters: Tim Drake | Scope: Early 90s
If you've spent any time in the online Batman community, you've probably heard that Tim, age nine, was climbing rooftops to follow Bruce and Dick/Jason around and take their picture. I see this discussed like it's canon all the time, but it seems a little out there doesn't it? A nine year old kid out on the streets of Gotham in the middle of the night with a fancy camera following around vigilantes and mass murderers? So what's the deal, does this have any basis in canon?
DISCLAIMER: I have no problem with this headcanon, make up whatever you want about the Batman characters, they're your dolls have fun. I just like discussing common fan misconceptions and breaking down what is actually canon.
Part 1: How Did Tim Find Out Bruce Was Batman?
When Tim was a little kid and Dick was still in the circus, Tim's parents took him to see the Flying Graysons perform. However, this just happens to be the night that Mary and John are murdered. Witnessing the crime traumatized Tim and he saw it over and over in his nightmares. Yet that wasn't the only thing he saw, he also saw Dick do the quadruple somersault, a trick that only the Grayson's could perform. Years later when he was watching television there was a story on about Batman and Robin, and he saw a clip of Robin performing the quadruple somersault. From there it was easy for him to determine that since Dick was Robin, his guardian, Bruce, must be Batman.
So he didn't have to stalk Dick & Bruce to figure them out, in fact, he realized the secret almost entirely by chance. This is the biggest part of the misconception that I see online, that the reason Tim found out Bruce was Batman was because he was stalking him, but this is simply not the case. However, he could have always been stalking them on the side, so lets talk about that.
Part 2: Could Tim Have Followed Batman and Robin Around Gotham?
Very short answer: No, Tim could not have been following Bruce and Dick around Gotham taking their photos. We know from Batman (1940) #441 that Tim attends boarding school outside of Gotham. It is simply unreasonable that Tim could have been sneaking out, travelling back to Gotham, chasing after trained vigilantes un-noticed, and making it back in the morning without raising any questions.
But this is the boring killjoy no fun answer, so lets talk about the stalker tendancies Tim does display!
Part 3: Is Tim Drake a Weirdo? (Yes)
While Tim surely was not actually stalking Bruce and Dick, he definitely still holds the title of strange and off-putting superfan. He starts out A Lonely Place of Dying by taking photos of Bruce while he's out on patrol (to gather evidence for when he confronts Dick). He also has a photo album of Batman and Robin newspaper cuttings (granted, this is fairly normal, more akin to someone owning posters of their favorite celebrity than genuine stalking, but it is a start!).
Tim also knows where Dick lives, both previously and currently (although it should be noted that this would have been in the time of phone books so it isn't nearly as weird for him to know this as it would be today). He spies through the window of Dick's apartment, and upon arriving at Wayne Manor he immediately begins touching random objects without Dick or Alfred's permission and rambling on about them. He is an offputting little weirdo with no manners, but in canon he is not a stalker. This is of course not to say you shouldn't have fun with headcanons and AUs :]